In today’s rapidly evolving legal landscape, knowledge management and innovation (KM&I) teams are the unsung heroes driving operational excellence in law firms.
The surge in remote and hybrid work models has thrown a curveball at legal organizations, challenging them to find new ways to organize and distribute vital information to their workforce.
Enter the intranet – the secret weapon in a law firm’s digital arsenal. These internal portals have emerged as game-changers for KM&I departments, offering a one-stop-shop for communication, teamwork, and productivity. Don’t just take my word for it – the 2022 ILTA Technology Survey ranks intranets as one of the top three KM assets, right behind document management systems and enterprise search.
Here’s a fun fact: the vast majority of law firm intranets are built on Microsoft SharePoint. They’re considered more valuable than some traditional KM tools like experience management, document assembly, and internal knowledge bases. But here’s the kicker – while intranets are KM goldmines, they require some serious thought and planning to truly foster a knowledge-sharing culture.
Deciding What’s Needed
If your firm is moving the intranet to SharePoint Online and reimagining what the future state should look like it’s tempting to jump right into a formal requirements gathering initiative. Ten years ago, that made sense because there were few out of the box legal intranet solutions and the ones that did exist weren’t good. That’s no longer the case. Legal intranets have been around long enough now that every practical use case is known. The odds that your requirements gathering exercise is going to uncover some novel use case are close to zero. The legal intranet problem has been solved thousands of times over the last 25 years and experienced vendors know what firms need. See if your vendor partner has a standard playbook like the one below. Following a proven playbook will save you many months and thousands of dollars in unnecessary planning activities.
Content is Paramount
Let’s get real – an intranet without quality content is like a library without books. It’s tempting to just dump all your old stuff into a new system, but trust me, that’s a recipe for disaster. You need to get your content creators fired up about producing fresh, relevant material – think news, events, know-how, and training resources. Keep it current, keep it accurate, and make sure it hits the spot for your audience. That’s where solid content lifecycle management (CLM) comes in. And remember, good CLM is more about people and processes than fancy tech.
Find It or Forget It
Ever heard the phrase “needle in a haystack”? That’s what many legal professionals feel like when trying to find information on their intranets. It’s not that the content isn’t there – it’s just hiding like a pro. This leads to wasted time and missed opportunities for efficiency. But don’t worry, there are plenty of ways to make your intranet content more discoverable.
First up, tackle that user interface (UI). A messy, inconsistent display is a one-way ticket to Frustration Town. Implement clear page templates and style guides, train your content creators, and for the love of all things legal, avoid navigation structures that require a treasure map to find information.
Next, let’s talk taxonomy and metadata tags. Take a good, hard look at your content types and figure out what tags make sense for each. And please, make sure your content owners are tagging consistently and accurately. It’s like filing – do it right, or you’ll never find it again.
Customizations: Handle with Care
If you’re a big law firm, chances are you’re either already using SharePoint Online for your intranet or planning to make the switch. The SaaS model has its perks – better scalability, lower upfront costs, tighter security – but it’s not without its challenges.
Law firms love to slap custom solutions on top of SharePoint to meet their unique needs. It’s understandable, but here’s the rub – Microsoft updates SharePoint Online more often than some people change their socks. These updates can wreak havoc on custom solutions, creating a potential operational nightmare unless you’ve got a dedicated team monitoring Microsoft’s every move.
My advice? Be strategic about customizations. Consider using a third-party intranet framework to minimize the risk of breaking changes. Let the vendor’s team keep an ear to the ground for updates that could cause issues. After all, you’ve got enough on your plate without having to babysit your intranet 24/7. Law firms have been moving away from custom developing intranet solutions in house for years. As you can see from the ILTA Technology Survey chart below, custom solutions have declined by 30% over the last four years.
To conclude, intranets have become essential tools for law firms’ KM&I efforts, particularly in the era of remote and hybrid work. While SharePoint Online offers a robust platform for legal intranets, firms must focus on quality content creation, effective content lifecycle management, and improved discoverability to maximize their intranet’s value. Customizations should be approached cautiously, with consideration given to third-party intranet frameworks to mitigate risks associated with frequent updates. As the legal landscape continues to evolve, a well-designed and maintained intranet can serve as a crucial asset in fostering collaboration, productivity, and knowledge sharing within law firms.